If you want to hatch your own backyard pigeons then incubating the eggs is a must. The incubation of eggs is necessary if you want healthy chicks to be produced when the eggs hatch. Incubating helps you control the humidity, temperature and egg turning of the egg.  But what if the incubation grinds to a halt? How long can pigeons survive without incubation? This article looks into it.

Pigeon eggs can survive up to five to seven days without incubation. For an egg to survive it needs to maintain warmth so that the chick inside does not die. If left alone for too long the egg will die.

How long can pigeon eggs survive without incubation?

Countless studies have shown that pigeon eggs can stay for up to five or seven days without incubation. Pigeons live in every city around the world, and so it’s possible to stumble on a pigeon’s egg even when you least expect it. If you find this bird’s egg, you can either return it to its nest or try to hatch it yourself.

With an incubator, you can get the pigeon’s egg to hatch in around 18 days. And if you don’t have an incubator, there are other methods of hatching this bird’s eggs.

Will cold eggs still hatch?

A bird’s eggs should be kept warm at all times. If a mother bird isn’t there to sit on her eggs, they will go cold and may never hatch. Except, of course, if the mother bird returns in time to care for the eggs, or someone seeing the abandoned eggs decides to hatch them in an incubator.

If you suspect that some cold eggs you found have been abandoned by their mother for a while it is best to look for signs of life in the eggs before placing them in an incubator. You can use a flashlight to check for veins or movements within the egg. If there are blood vessels or movements, it’s a sign that the egg, though cold, still has life.

Should I clean eggs before incubating?

You might think cleaning a bird’s eggs before placing them in the incubator is the ideal thing to do. But it’s not. Even if the eggs have bird poop and filth all over, you must leave it that way. Studies have shown that there is a protective layer around bird eggs.

When you wash bird eggs, you unknowingly remove the protective layer they come with and expose them to harmful bacteria, disease and unsavoury organisms. The rubbing action that comes with washing also pushes the bacteria through the shell’s pores into the egg. So, you’ll be doing the eggs good by placing them in an incubator without washing or rinsing them.

How can you tell if eggs are fertile before incubation?

There are several known methods for checking to see if a bird’s eggs are fertile or not. You can use the candle or flashlight test or the water test.

The flashlight test requires you to go into a dark room and point the light underneath the egg’s large end. The light makes the egg transparent and allows you to see what’s happening on the inside. You can also use a candle for this. What you are looking for are veins, a dark mass, or movements within the egg. If you find any or all, the egg is fertile.

The water test method requires you to place the egg in a water bowl and see what happens. If it floats at an angle, the egg is fertile. But if it sinks to the bottom, the egg is infertile.

Can I hatch eggs with a heat lamp?

If you intend to hatch some bird eggs you found but lack an incubator; you can resort to hatching the eggs under a heat lamp. Heat lamps can do the job just as great as incubators. Only make sure that you constantly check the temperature and humidity where the eggs sit. It is also essential that you flip the eggs at least six times a day, so every part heats adequately.

Conclusion

The incubation of eggs is very necessary and is a must for the egg to produce healthy chicks. The egg can only survive not being incubated for 5-7 days, after which it will become cold and die. If you are incubating the eggs yourself do not clean the eggs. If you don’t have an incubator you can use a heat lamp.

If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other pigeon related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Why do pigeons kill their babies? Pigeon not sitting on egg, why and what to do? Pigeon egg not hatching, why and what to do? Do pigeons grieve?